Domestic appliance

ABSTRACT

A domestic appliance having a heat-insulated door with an inner and outer wall that are connected to each other along the longitudinal edges of the walls and wherein the walls delimit an interspace to heat-insulate the door. At least one closing element is connected to the transverse edges of the inner wall and/or the outer wall. An opening of the closing element receives a hinge pin and a sleeve is attached to the inner side of the closing element. The sleeve has internal hollow space located behind the opening in the direction of the interspace.

The present invention relates to a domestic appliance, especially a refrigerator or freezer comprising a door which is provided with an outer wall and an inner wall, which are connected to one another along longitudinal edges, and at least one closing element, which is connected to respective transverse edges of the outer wall and the inner wall. A domestic appliance with such a door is known for example from DE 103 02 797 A1 and DE 102 59 749 A1.

Door bearing bushes are usually molded on the closing elements, said bearing bushes being provided to accommodate bearing pins fixedly connected to the body of the device and thus to rotatably connect the door to the body. These bearing pins support the weight of the door during operation and can be exposed to significant torsional moment during assembly of the door so that the bearing bushes must correspondingly also be able to work under pressure. The wall thickness of the closing elements must therefore not be dimensioned too narrowly in the surroundings of the bearing bushes. To prevent the closing elements, which are mostly injection-molded from plastic, from deflecting during removal, it is on the other hand desirable for the wall thickness of the closing elements to vary as little as possible from point to point. This renders the manufacture of the closing elements costly in terms of materials and correspondingly expensive.

The object of the present invention is to specify a domestic appliance with a door assembled from an outer wall, inner wall and at least one closing element, in which the closing element can be embodied in a simple and material-saving fashion and a high resilience of the door is consequently achieved.

In the case of a domestic appliance with a door, which is provided with an outer wall and an inner wall, which are connected to one another along longitudinal edges, and at least one closing element, which is connected to respective transverse edges of the outer wall and the inner wall, and an opening for receiving a hinge pin, the object is achieved by a sleeve being fastened to an interior of the closing element, from which sleeve an internal hollow space is located behind the opening.

This sleeve can itself form a door bearing bush, in which a bearing pin inserted through the opening engages, or in accordance with a preferred development, a door bearing bush is molded to the closing element, said door bearing bush engaging in the hollow space of the sleeve. As a result of the stabilization from the sleeve, it is possible to reduce the wall thickness of the closing element compared to a closing element not stabilized by a sleeve and consequently to achieve the same resilience.

The door bearing bush can be used as an injection opening for injecting insulating material into an internal hollow space of the door.

Alternatively, a vent valve can be accommodated in the door bearing bush, through which air can escape out of the internal hollow space if insulating material injected herein expands.

In practice several door bearing bushes generally exist on a door, so that one can expediently be used as an injection opening and the others are provided with a vent valve.

To improve the stiffening effect of the sleeve, this is preferably part of a stiffening element, from which a base plate rests against the closing element.

Additional stiffening can be achieved in that the base plate is edged by a wall which rests against the outer wall or the inner wall of the door.

The sleeve may also be part of a stiffening element, from which a base is inserted into a cutout of the closing element.

To secure the sleeve in its position, the base is expediently locked in a cutout.

With the conventional doors mentioned in the introduction, the closing elements protrude marginally past the outer wall so that transverse edges of the outer wall can be inserted into grooves of the closing element in each instance. This makes the closing element really obvious.

To make it less obvious, the outer wall supports a ledge angled toward the inner wall preferably along at least one of its transverse edges and the closing element has a groove which opens toward the exterior of the door, in which groove the ledge engages. While therefore with the conventional doors an edge region of the outer wall engaging in the groove of the closing element is flush with the remainder of the outer wall, and a groove accommodating the edge region necessarily has to have a side wall, which projects over the outer wall, according to the invention the fact that the angled ledge forms the edge region engaging in the groove makes it possible for the closing element to be moved back behind the front face, with the result that the closing element is largely hidden from the eyes of the observer and front face can be achieved, which is free from steps that may accumulate dirt.

In order on the one hand to be able to clamp the ledge firmly in the groove and on the other hand also to prevent too large a force being required to insert the ledge into the groove, the groove is preferably wider that the ledge engaging therein and the ledge is clamped on ribs projecting from a side wall of the groove.

The outer wall preferably forms a front panel and two side edges of the door adjoining the front panel in the known manner.

If the outer wall also comprises two peripheral ledges engaging behind the front panel from the side edges, the length of a wall of the closing element supporting the front panel is preferably shorter than the distance between the peripheral ledges, in order not to impede the insertion of the angled ledge into the groove on the closing element.

The closing element is also preferably provided with two tabs on the outside of the side edges to fix the outer wall.

The stiffening element already mentioned can also be used to fix the outer wall. Thus on the one hand the side edge of the outer wall can be fixed between the stiffening element and the tab. On the other hand the stiffening element can also form a stop, against which one of the side edges respectively rests.

To fix the outer wall it is particularly preferable for said outer wall to form a hollow rib in each instance between the side edge and the peripheral ledge and for the stiffening element to have a protrusion engaging in the hollow space of the rib.

To simplify the assembly of the door, the stiffening element is preferably latched to the closing element.

Further features and advantages of the invention result from the description of exemplary embodiments below with reference to the appended figures, in which;

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an inventive door;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the outer wall of the door;

FIG. 3 shows a closing element of the door from FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a section through the closing element from FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a stiffening element;

FIG. 6 shows a horizontal section through the door, showing the stiffening element from above;

FIG. 7 shows a section through the closing element in a sectional plane parallel to the one in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view from the front of a closing element according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 9 shows a perspective view from behind of the closing element from FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows a fragmented perspective view of the closing element from FIG. 8, an outer wall mounted thereon and a stiffening element to be mounted thereon, and

FIG. 11 shows a partial section through the closing element, the outer wall and the stiffening element from FIG. 10 in the assembled state.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an inventive door, which can serve as the door of a refrigerator or freezer or as one of a number of doors of a combination refrigeration appliance. In the known manner the door comprises an outer wall 1, which is formed as a single piece from sheet metal that has been cut to size, an upper closing element 2, a lower closing element 3 and an inner wall that is not visible in the view in FIG. 1.

The outer wall 1 is shown in a perspective view in FIG. 2, essentially showing the inner face of the outer wall 1, which is concealed when the door is mounted. The outer wall is made up of a slightly curved front panel 4, two side edges 5, each connected to the sides of the front panel 4, and two peripheral ledges 6 engaging behind the front panel 4 from the side edges 5. The peripheral ledges 6 serve respectively to secure the rear wall (not shown here). This is cut to size in the known manner, which is therefore not described in detail here, from flat plastic material and formed by deep drawing.

The outer wall 1 forms a hollow rib 7 in each instance between the side edges 5 and the peripheral ledges 6.

A ledge 8 is angled in a horizontal direction on the upper and lower edges of the outer wall 1 respectively. In each instance the width of the ledge 8 is greater in a center section 9 than at its two ends 10.

FIG. 3 shows the upper closing element 2 of the door in the perspective from FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a section through the upper closing element 2 along a plane identified as IV-IV in FIG. 3. The closing element 2, which is injection molded from plastic, has a flat base plate 11 and a second plate 12, which is joined together with this as a single piece and parallel to it, together limiting a groove 13 that is open to the front. The second plate 12 holds a number of ribs 14 that engage in the groove 13 and extend essentially in the direction of the depth of the groove 13. The second plate 12 projects over a front edge 15 of the base plate 11. In a center region of the second plate 12 a wall 16 is formed on its front edge, extending vertically downward.

When the door is fully mounted, the groove 13 holds the upper of the two ledges 8 of the outer wall 1, the ledge 8 being clamped between the ribs 14 and the base plate 11. When the ledge 8 is inserted correctly into the groove 13, the interior of the front panel 4 is supported on the wall 16. As the wall 16 projects over the front edge 15 of the base plate 11, the front panel 4 resting on the wall 16 does the same, thereby resulting in a door front face that is free from projections or steps and is easy to clean.

Two angled tabs 17, projecting at the longitudinal ends of the closing element 2, are provided, to rest on the outside of the side edges 6 and fix them in position in the assembled state as shown in FIG. 1.

A vertically oriented groove 19 extending along a rear edge 18 of the base plate 11 is provided, to hold and fix an upper edge of the inner wall.

Two openings 20 of the base plate shown in FIG. 3 belong to bearing bushes 21, which are provided to hold a fixed bearing pin (not shown) on a housing supporting the door in a rotatable manner. The bearing bushes 21 are present in duplicate in a mirror-symmetrical arrangement in the known manner on each closing element, to allow the door to be mounted optionally on the left or right of the housing.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of one of two mirror-symmetrical stiffening elements 22, which are provided to be fitted over the bearing bushes 21 of the closing element 2 after the closing element 2 has been joined to the outer wall 1 but before the assembly of the inner wall. The stiffening element 22 has a base 23, the shape of which resembles a box that is open on one side, with a roughly square bottom plate 24 and side walls 25 to 28 connected to the edges of the bottom plate 24. In the assembled state the bottom plate 24 touches the base plate 11 of the closing element 2, the front side wall 25 lies very close to the front panel 4 as an extension of the wall 16 from inside, with a cutout 29 at the foot of the side wall 25 holding the second plate 12 of the closing element 2. The outer side wall 26 rests on the inside of one of the side edges 5 and part of the side wall 27 touches one of the peripheral ledges 6. A rib-shaped protrusion 30 between the side walls 26, 27 engages respectively in one of the hollow ribs 7 of the outer wall 1. A sleeve 31 of the stiffening element 22 encloses the bearing bush 21 in an essentially play-free manner. Ribs 32 that are oriented radially in relation to the sleeve 31 connect said sleeve 31 to the side walls 26, 27, 28.

Attaching the stiffening element 22 on the one hand strengthens the bearing bush 21 so that a loadable door suspension can be achieved even with a relatively small wall thickness of the closing element 2 but the particular benefit of the stiffening element 22 is the form-fit fixing of the front panel 4. Because the stiffening element 22 engages with a form fit between the front panel 4 and the peripheral ledges 6, it prevents the front panel 4 moving forward when the hollow space formed by the outer wall 1, inner wall and closing elements 2, 3 is filled with foam, thereby losing its hold in the groove 13.

The lower closing element 3 can be embodied as a mirror image of the upper closing element 2, as shown in FIG. 1. One of the four bearing bushes 21 of the closing elements 2, 3 is then preferably open at its tip projecting into the hollow space of the door, to serve as an injection opening for a synthetic resin material, which is allowed to expand in the hollow space, in order finally to obtain a foam that completely fills the hollow space. The other three bearing bushes 21, which are at the corners of the interior furthest from the injection point, are then each expediently provided with a vent valve at their tip, to allow air but not foam to escape from the hollow space.

FIG. 6 shows a horizontal section through a part of the door, with one of the stiffening elements 22 visible from above. It shows the sleeve 31, the ribs 32 extending from it, the walls 25 to 28 and the course of the outer wall 1 close to the walls 25, 26, 27 and the protrusion 30. In this embodiment, unlike the diagram in FIG. 3, the tab 17 is extended to the rear around the hollow rib 7 and becomes a rib 33, which forms an outer limit of the groove 19 holding the inner wall, shown here as 34, of the door.

FIG. 7 shows a section through the closing element 2 and the stiffening element 22 mounted thereon in a plane parallel to the plane in FIG. 4. In this plane the base plate 11, a vertical wall 35 connecting the base plate 11 to the second plate 12 and a wall 45 of the closing element 2 delimiting the groove 19 form a recess, into which the base 23 of the stiffening element 22 engages in a form-fit fashion. If the door is assembled and foamed, the stiffening element 22 is fixed in the recess by means of the insulating foam. An additional fixing which is also effective during the assembly of the door is formed by a depression or a window 36 in the wall 35, in to which a locking projection 37 engages at the height of the recess 29 on the stiffening element 22. This locking projection 37 allows the stiffening element 22 to be non-detachably connected thereto if it is firstly assembled to the closing element 2.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the closing element marked 2′, in a perspective corresponding to the one in FIG. 3; FIG. 9 shows the rear face of the closing element 2′ in a perspective corresponding to the one in FIG. 2. Corresponding parts of this closing element 2′ and the closing element 2 described above are shown with the same reference characters. As with the closing element 2 a base plate 11 and a second plate 12 limit a groove 13 that is open to the front and into which ribs 14 protrude, in order to clamp an angled away ledge 8 of the outer wall 1 therein.

A vertical rear wall 38 is formed on the base plate 11. Recesses 39 that are open to the rear and upward are formed in the rear wall 38 and the base plate 11, to hold an arm (not shown) that projects from the body of the refrigeration appliance and has at its end a bearing pin engaging in an opening 20 on the bottom of the recess 39, thereby concealing the arm from the view of an observer standing in front of the appliance. As with the closing element 2, the opening 20 belongs to a bearing bush 21 protruding into the interior of the door.

FIG. 10 shows a perspective view from below of a part of the closing element 2′ with one of the recesses 39 and the bearing bushes 21 and a part of the outer wall 1 secured to the closing element 2′ respectively. As described with reference to the closing element 2, the outer wall 1 is anchored to the closing element 2′, in that the ledge 8 (covered in FIG. 10) of the outer wall 1 engages in the groove 13 of the closing element 2′. Unlike the closing element 2, here the peripheral ledge 6 of the outer wall 1 engages behind a wall 45 of the closing element 2′, which limits the groove 19 holding the inner wall 34 (not shown), over a short distance. It is therefore not possible to join the closing element 2′ and the outer wall 1 by simply pushing the two horizontally toward each other, thereby inserting the ledge 8 into the groove 13; instead, when the ledge 8 is inserted into the rib 13, the closing element 2′ must be held at something of an angle, so that the peripheral ledge 6 can pass the wall 45 and only after passing said wall 45 is the closing element 2′ swiveled about a horizontal axis 40 (see FIG. 8) so that one end of the peripheral ledge 6 comes to rest on the wall 45, as shown in FIG. 10. This allows a first, tentative anchoring of the outer wall 1 to the closing element 2′ to be achieved.

A final anchoring is achieved in that a stiffening element 22′ shown separated from the outer wall 1 and the closing element 2′ in FIG. 10 is pushed onto the bearing bush 21 of the closing element 2′. The structure of the stiffening element 22′ is largely similar to that of the stiffening element 22 from FIG. 5, with the difference that in the case of the stiffening element 22 two tongues 41, 42 project over the bottom plate of the base 23, in order to engage respectively in a gap between the walls of the recess 39 and the side edge 5 or the front panel 4 of the outer wall 1 in the assembled state.

FIG. 11 shows a section through the tongue 42 engaging in a gap 43 between a wall 44 limiting the cutout 39 and the wall 16 supporting the front panel 4. A latching protrusion 37, which engages in a cutout in the wall 16, causes the stiffening element 22′ to be connected in a non-detachable manner to the closing element 2′. 

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A domestic appliance, comprising: a heat-insulated door having an inner wall and an outer wall, each of the inner wall and the outer wall having longitudinal edges and transverse edges, the inner wall connected to the outer wall along the longitudinal edges and the inner wall and the outer wall delimiting an interspace to heat-insulate the door; at least one closing element connected to a respective one of the transverse edges of at least one of the inner wall and the outer wall, the closing element having an opening and an inner side; a hinge pin received in the opening of the closing element; and a sleeve attached to the inner side of the closing element and having an internal hollow space located behind the opening in the direction of the interspace.
 20. The domestic appliance of claim 19, wherein the domestic appliance is a domestic refrigeration appliance.
 21. The domestic appliance of claim 19, further comprising a door bearing bush molded to the closing element to engage in the internal hollow space of the sleeve, wherein the opening of the closing element defines an entry of the door bearing bush.
 22. The domestic appliance of claim 21, wherein the door bearing bush defines an injection opening to inject insulating material into an inner hollow space of the door.
 23. The domestic appliance of claim 21, wherein the door bearing bush comprises a vent valve to ventilate an inner hollow space of the door.
 24. The domestic appliance of claim 19, further comprising a stiffening element having the sleeve and a base plate that abuts on the closing element.
 25. The domestic appliance of claim 24, wherein the stiffening element comprises a wall that abuts on at least one of the inner wall and the outer wall and that delimits the base plate.
 26. The domestic appliance of claim 19, further comprising a stiffening element having the sleeve and a base; wherein the closing element has a cutout; and wherein the base is inserted in the cutout of the closing element.
 27. The domestic appliance of claim 26, wherein the base is locked in the cutout.
 28. The domestic appliance of claim 19, wherein the outer wall supports a ledge angled towards the inner wall along at least one of the transverse edges; wherein the closing element has a groove that is open towards an exterior side of the door; and wherein the ledge engages into the groove of the closing element.
 29. The domestic appliance of claim 28, wherein the groove is wider than the ledge engaging into the groove; wherein the groove has a side wall; wherein ribs protrude from the side all; and wherein the ledge is clamped to the ribs.
 30. The domestic appliance of claim 28, wherein the outer wall defines a front panel and two side edges of the door, wherein the two side edges border the front panel.
 31. The domestic appliance of claim 30, wherein the outer wall comprises two peripheral edges to engage from the two side edges behind the front panel.
 32. The domestic appliance of claim 31, wherein the closing element supports a wall that supports the front panel, and wherein a length of the wall is shorter than a distance between the two peripheral edges.
 33. The domestic appliance of claim 30, wherein the closing element has a front edge; wherein the door has a front face; and wherein the front edge of the closing element moves back behind the front face of the door.
 34. The domestic appliance of claim 30, wherein the closing element supports two tabs that abut on the outside of the two side edges.
 35. The domestic appliance of claim 34, further comprising a stiffening element having the sleeve, and wherein each of the two side edges is fixed between the stiffening element and a respective one of the two tabs.
 36. The domestic appliance of claim 31, wherein a stiffening element defines a stop for one of the peripheral ledges.
 37. The domestic appliance of claim 31, wherein the outer wall defines a respective hollow rib between a respective one of the two side edges and a respective one of the two peripheral edges; and wherein a stiffening element has a projection that engages in a hollow space of the hollow rib.
 38. An appliance, comprising: a housing having a hinge pin; a door having an inner wall and an outer wall, the inner wall connected to the outer wall so as to define an interspace between the inner wall and the outer wall; a finishing element arranged on one of top and bottom of at least one of the inner wall and the outer wall, the finishing element having a door bearing bush and an opening, the opening to receive the hinge pin of the housing so as to rotate the door in relation to the housing; and a reinforcing element having a sleeve to receive the door bearing bush of the finishing element. 